The Sensex resumed higher at 26,441.02 and hovered in a range of 26,680.55 and 26,395.50 before ending at 26,652.81,showing a gain of 258.80 points or 0.98 per cent.

Bombay Stock Exchange

Mumbai :

Markets rallied for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday, with the benchmark Sensex surging 259 points to end at a fresh two-week high of 26,652 driven by upbeat global cues on strengthening oil prices.

Consumer durables, banking, finance, capital goods,industrials and power sectors were the major winners. The Sensex resumed higher at 26,441.02 and hovered in a range of 26,680.55 and 26,395.50 before ending at 26,652.81,showing a gain of 258.80 points or 0.98 per cent. This is its highest closing since November 11, when it had closed at 26,818.82.

The gauge has gained 792.64 points of 3.07 per cent in four days.The 50-share NSE Nifty settled 82.35 points, or 1.01 percent higher at 8,224.50 after shuttling between 8,234.25 and 8,139.25. Sentiment was upbeat on hopes that the government and RBI will announce more measures to contain the fallout of demonetisation while globally, oil prices spiked ahead of a crucial OPEC meet where producers are set to discuss an output cut, analysts said.

"Banking sector was firm early in the day itself, with a slew of banks cutting rates. Uniquely enough, being at themonth's end, salary disbursals are also in focus, which is expected to inject more life into the cash-starved economy,"said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The recent rally notwithstanding, both the indices ended the month with losses. During November, the Sensex plunged 1,277.40 points, or 4.57 per cent, while the Nifty tumbled 401.20 points, or 4.65 per cent. Meanwhile, foreign funds sold shares worth a net Rs 715.30crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stockexchanges.

Overseas, Asian and European stocks rose as investorsawaited the conclusion of the highly-anticipated meeting ofthe Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Key indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Koreaand Taiwan rose by 0.01 per cent to 0.86 per cent whileChina's index eased by 1.00 per cent.

Key European indices in France, Germany and UK alsomoved up by 0.34 per cent to 0.54 per cent.